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SCN regains shine versus Geneva
No. 2 North Stars defeat no. 18 Vikings



By Steve Nemeth

ST. CHARLES -- St. Charles North wasted no time recovering from its first loss of the season.

The North Stars -- ranked second in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 Poll -- chalked up a 3-1 triumph over no. 18 Geneva in Monday’s opening game of the annual Tri-Cities Night doubleheader.

With the victory, North (15-1-1) put last Thursday’s 2-1 loss to Batavia in its rear view mirror and jumped right back into the title picture for the inaugural season of DuKane Conference girls soccer.

The North Stars (5-1-0, 15 points) now set their sights on Thursday’s home and regular-season 7 p.m. finale against Wheaton Warrenville South (13-4-0, DKC 3-3-0). The no. 23-rated Tigers are fresh off a 2-1 win over Metea Valley in one of the PepsiCo Showdown brackets title games.

“I thought the girls did a real nice job staying composed. Even after we gave up a goal, they regrouped, focused on controlling play,” said North coach Brian Harks. “Geneva can be a very dangerous team, but I thought our center backs (Bridget Wolf and Ali Wessel) played consistently for the whole match. plus our midfield controlled play.”

The course of the match followed Harks’ assessment, which exemplified the “back to business” attitude of shrugging off the fact that combining past year’s success with this year’s run, meant the loss to Batavia ended a 58-match regular season unbeaten streak for North.

Monday’s first half was clearly in the North Stars’ favor both statistically and on the scoreboard. The two sides exchanged fairly routine attempts that both keepers handled with confidence.

But with 11:39 gone, Sarah Andrey attacked from the end line off to the left of the net. Despite a tough angle, the junior forward slotted home a 14-yarder against Geneva goalie Katie Montgomery for a 1-0 lead.

“Working a give-and-go with CeCe (Wahlberg) put me in a good position to attack, but I was thinking of doing more than just get closer in the box and saw a chance to go near post,” Andrey explained. “Essentially I picked a spot and went for it.”

That was Wahlberg’s team-high seventh assist and the 10th goal of the season for Andrey, whose second half efforts solidified her selection as Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match.

Geneva’s Stephanie Howe launched a 27-yard free kick from the left that just missed the upper right 90 a minute later. Another eight minutes elapsed before Howe had an attempt sail over the crossbar. North’s Sami Rydberg sent a solid cross that Montgomery intercepted, and the Vikings goalie also punched clear a corner kick threat. Rydberg put a long-distance bomb off the crossbar, and Montgomery smothered a potential follow-up try.

However, at 28:32 the North Stars doubled their lead. Claudia Najera’s fourth assist for the year led to Wahlberg’s ninth goal as the senior rocketed a 14-yarder. North would have added to that lead if not for some excellent goalkeeping by Montgomery, including stopping an Andrey near-post effort off a Najera cross 8:36 prior to intermission.

North completed the opening half with a 10-6 advantage for overall attempts including a 6-2 tally for shots on goal.

The second half began with continued heroic efforts from Montgomery while the other end featured a series of near misses from the Vikings' Howe.

Shortly after an injury stoppage for Geneva’s Caitlin Farrell, the Vikings’ persistence paid off. A Jenna Dominguez high-arching pass from the wing was volleyed directly out of the air by Alana Rawls. That taly with 18:52 still to be played was the freshman forward’s fourth goal of the season and a sixth assist from Dominguez.

“Watching the ball come down, I just wanted to get it into the back of the net so my focus was on making solid contact,” Rawls noted. “We got our heads back in the game and played more like we usually do. We all kind of picked it up.”

Four minutes later, North was a little luckier than just good. The Vikings’ Kelly Anderson used a Katie Cannon free kick for a header that flew just above the crossbar. With 11:39 left, reserve Rachel Lawrence gambled from 32 yards, but that ball didn’t dip soon enough either.

While the run of play suddenly began to favor Geneva, the momentum and the match swung around on one play.

Andrey virtually absorbed  a Vikings upfield kick, recovered in time to gain control of the ball, fought off an attempt to be dispossessed of the ball, and ultimately was taken down inside the penalty box. That sequence and her opening goal qualified this as an MVP performance.

There was 69:47 remaining when Rydberg calmly converted the resulting penalty kick opportunity. That was the junior’s team-best 11th goal.

Despite bruises, injuries, and being cast in the underdog role, Geneva (9-5-2, 3-3-0) put up a valiant fight and worked hard.

“North is a great team, and we were right with them,” Geneva coach Megan Owens said. “I was so pleased with our efforts. We had two players come off (due to injuries), which meant playing some people out of position. We outshot them in the second half, so I liked the way players stepped up.”

In the second half, the Vikings did indeed have a 10-8 advantage for overall attempts as well as a 6-3 edge for shots on goal. For the match, North was up overall 18-16 and 9-8 in those two categories as well as 5-2 for corner kick opportunities.

“Alana (Rawls) was a great example; she had an outstanding game,” Owens said. “I thought Stephanie (Howe) had her best game of the year. She dribbled through their defense a few times and was just mentally tough the whole match. (Defender) Katie Cannon shut down several of their attacks and did a good job making several solid tackles. And (goalie) Katie (Montgomery) made some tremendous saves.”

Geneva returns home on Thursday to cap the regular season with a 6:30 p.m. DKC meeting versus Glenbard North (2-11-2, 0-5-0), which also pays a visit to St. Charles East on Tuesday for a rescheduled match.

On May 14, the Vikings are the no. 5 seed in the Class 3A Batavia Regional and face 12-seed Lake Park. Geneva began this month with a 3-2 DKC triumph over Lake Park.

The DuKane race has three schools still in title contention: North at 5-1-0 (15 pts.) has a home date with Wheaton Warrenville South, Batavia at 5-1-0 (15 pts.) visits Wheaton North, while St. Charles East is 4-1-0 (12 pts.) having the make-up date with Glenbard North followed by a Thursday visit from Lake Park. In essence all three could possibly end up at 6-1-0 with 18 points, or else a tie or upset could drop someone.

“We’re certainly not looking past South, and sharing a conference championship would be okay, but our first concern right now is really making the final push for the postseason,” North’s Harks said.

     
Starting lineups

St. Charles North
GK  Sara Maleski
D  Grace Barresi
D  Ali Wessel
D  Bridget Wolf
D  Makenna Collins
M  Alyssa Kraft
M  Maddi Rossi
M  Sam Rydberg
M  Talia Pellegrini
F  Claudia Najera
F  Sarah Andrey
 
Geneva
GK  Katie Montgomery
D  Katie Cannon
D  Annie Brolly
D  Amanda Rose
D  Alana Rawls
M  Annalise Spindle
M  Lindsay Ferris
M  Sydney Gratz
M  Stephanie Howe
F  Jenna Dominguez
F  Caitlin Farrell
 
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Sarah Andrey, jr. F, St. Charles North

Referees: Rick Naatz (center), John Elenbaas, Doug Neufeldt

 
Game summary

St. Charles North 3, Geneva 1

SCN       2    1    --   3    (15-1-1, 5-1-0)
Geneva  0    1    --   1    (9-5-2, 3-3-0)

 
Scoring

First half
SCN -- Andrey tough angle blast up from left end line (Wahlberg assist), 11:39 gone
SCN -- Wahlberg left of center 15-yard ripper (Najera assist), 28:32 gone

Second half
G -- Rawls in the air volley shot from nine yards (Dominguez assist), 61:08 gone
SCN -- Rydberg penalty kick conversion (unassisted), 69:47 gone

Shots
SCN   10 –   8 -- 18
G          6 – 10 -- 16

Shots on goal
SCN    6 – 3 -- 9
G         2 – 6 -- 8

Saves (goalie)
SCN (Maleski)    2 – (Maleski 4, defender 1) 5 -- 7
G (Montgomery) 4 –  2 -- 6

Corner kicks
SCN    3 – 2 -- 5
G         1 – 1 -- 2

Offsides
SCN    0 – 1 -- 1
G         1 – 0 -- 1
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